Window-wiping device



J. B. JOHNSONL wmoow WIPING DEVICE. APPLICATION HILED JAN.2I. 1919.

Patented Dee. 21,1926.

.4 ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. JOHNSON, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

WINDOW-WIPING DEVICE.

T 0 all whom it may conoemi:

Be it known that I, J OHN B. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Window-lViping Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to that type of window cleaning device wherein a longitudinally disposed strip of rubber, ordinarily termed a squeegee is employed as the wiping material for making contact with the surface of the window to be cleaned, and which form of cleaning device is that com monly employed by window-cleaners generally for removing the moisture and dirt from the surface of the windows of stores hotels and oflice buildings. In this type of window cleaning devices the squeegee is firmly and immovably fixed within the T- member of the head of the device, with the result that on the wearing out or a mutilation of the strip of rubber or squeegee the entire head is rendered useless and has to be thrown away. Inasmuch as the head attachment of each cleaning device costs approximately seventy-five (75) cents, it will be seen that on the wearing out or mutilation of the strip of rubber or squeegee considerable loss is occasioned by having to throw away the entire head structure.

The object of the present invention is to dispense with the loss of the entire head structure on the wearing out of the squeegee thereof, and which, where a considerable number of cleaning devices are utilized, as for instance, where a number of operators or window cleaners are employed by a given company, runs into considerable money per year, which object is attained by so constructing the T-member of the head of the cleaning attachment as to permit or allow of a squeegee carrying member or holder to be slidably united to the T-member of the head of the attachment, so that on a wearing-out or the mutilation of the rubber strip or squeegee the securing holder carrying the same may be removed from within the T- member of the head of the cleaning device and a new squeegee, with its securing member or holder readily substituted for the removed worn out or mutilated squeegee. As the slide securing member or holder for the squeegee can be manufactured and sold at a nominal expense, approximately twenty- Specifieation of Letters Patent. Patented D 21 1920 Application filed January 21, 1919.

Serial No. 272,286.

five cents (25) it is apparent that only a fraction of the cost of a head is required to be expended for the replacement of a worn-out or mutilated squeegee.

To comprehend the invention reference should he had to the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein,

Figure l is a perspective view partly broken away of an ordinary window cleaning device with the invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a similar view'of the slide holder for the head with the squeegee secured thereto.

v Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed View taken on the line 00c0 Fig. 1 of the drawings.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 is used to indicate any suitable form of a handle for the cleaning attachment and to which the head is removably applied, the said head consisting of a shank member 2 and a transversely disposed T-member 3. The T-memher 3 is formed from a single piece of metal so shaped as to provide a longitudinally disposed groove or channel i, and a rearwardly projected guide groove 5, the guide-groove 5 being formed by the rib-shaped extension 6, of the head member 3. The longitudinal guide-groove l of the member 8 is adapted to slidably receive a securing member or holder 7, which is formed from a single piece of metal stamped as to provide an outwardly projected rib 8, which rib on the slide member or holder 7 being inserted within the groove or channel 4: of the member 3 fits within the guide groove 5 of the rib 6, said rib 8 thus serving as the means for locking the member 7 to the T-member 3 of the head, that is, holding the same against displacement by pressure applied to the squeegee thereof during the operation of the attachment. There is clamped between the wall members and the slide holder 7 a rubber strip or squeegee 9 which has applied to future use.

slide holder 7 in any suitable manner, preferably by compressing the wall members of the holder to firmly bear against the wall surfaces of the squeegee and backing plate 10. As thus secured the slide holder 7 with the squeegee 9 and backing plate 10 constitute a unitary structure and one which is easily applied to or removed from the T- member 3 of the head of the cleaning device. Under the construction as herein described, it is apparent that as the squeegee becomes worn out or mutilated to such an extent as to be rendered useless for cleaning purposes it is only necessary to remove the slide holder 7 from the T-member 3 of the head of the attachment and to substitute therefor a new slide holder with a squeegee and yield- .ing backing plate applied thereto, the only an indefinite number of Squeegees.

The slide holder with thesqueegee and backing plate may be supplied in number, as for instance packages of one dozen in connection with the sale of each window cleaning device, so that the user of the attachment may have on hand a number of Squeegees to be substituted as the one supplied with the head structure of the cleaning device be comes worn out, or the slide holder with its associated parts may be purchased separately as desired for replacement of the worn out squeegee. i

While the invention has. been described and illustrated in its preferredembodiment thereof, I do not wish to be understood as I being limited thereto, but, on the contrary desire to claim asbroadly as the state of the art will permit the application to the T- member of a head attachment of a window a substantial U-shape in cross section to provide wall members having parallel inner faces comiected by a yielding base portion, one wall being provided with a longitudinally disposed outwardly projecting guide groove open at its opposite ends, a wiper strip holder formed of a strip of sheet metal receivable within said head by an endwise telescoping movement, and of a cross sectional configuration corresponding to that of the head, the outer surface of the guide groove of said wiper strip holder providing a ribfor reception in said guide groove of the head, a flat wiper strip held between the parallel inner face of said holder through frictional contact therewith and insertible therein and removable therefrom through the longitudinal opening therein, and aflat flexible backing strip of resilient material positioned between the inner surface of one wall of said holder and the upper surface of said strip with its forward edge projecting beyond the longitudinal side edges of said head and holderand falling short of the outer edge of said strip.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of the subscribing witness. r

I JOHN B. JOHNSON.

- 'Witness: ,1 r V D. B. RICHARDS. 

